Getting to know Dr. Jessica McGuire
I am deeply grateful for the unwavering dedication and advocacy of my parents.
As a child, I faced multiple hospital admissions and an uncertain medical diagnosis, but through their sheer perseverance, I was able to navigate the journey to complete health.
My love for people and my belief in accessible, compassionate healthcare led me to become a doctor. I want to live in a world where, no matter your circumstances, you can receive excellent care from kind and committed professionals.
I fell in love with ear, nose, and throat surgery because it allows me to work closely with children, walking alongside them on their road to recovery.
Becoming a mother further opened my eyes to the gaps in the healthcare system. Each time my own children needed medical care, I was reminded of how easily I could access it, something that many families struggle with.
That realisation led to the creation of Hope-Hear, a platform designed to bridge this gap and support parents, like mine, as they navigate the journey with children facing hearing loss and/or language delays.
I am currently pursuing my PhD under the supervision of Dr. Armand Bam at Stellenbosch University’s Business School. This social impact project focuses on improving access to language stimulation tools and developmental monitoring for children from birth to three years old.
Online resources to help babies develop language and help parents navigate the challenges of the early years will be added to the website, and our social media accounts.
Our Projects
Screening Technician Training Programme
HOPE-Hear has established the only universal newborn screening programme in the South African Public Health Sector. It is an initiative that was started with the University of Cape Town's Division of Audiology and is being managed by Dr Jessica McGuire and Prof. Lebogang Ramma.
In Africa, a critical shortage of audiologists and speech-language therapists makes universal newborn hearing screening a challenge. With only around one audiologist per two million people, expecting specialists to handle screening, diagnostics, and rehabilitation is simply not feasible.
By training laypeople to conduct hearing screenings, we’re creating a cost-effective, scalable solution that helps build capacity within the system. Instead of audiologists screening every newborn, our trained technicians identify babies who need further diagnostics, freeing up specialists to focus on diagnosis and rehabilitation.
Our training programme, developed in alignment with guidelines from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), covers essential skills including basic anatomy, physiology, and practical screening techniques. Our programme ensures that technicians adhere to strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and remain within their scope of practice.
To date, we have screened over 10,000 babies, a milestone that would not have been possible relying solely on skilled audiologists.
Prof. Claudine Storbeck; from The University of the Witwatersrand, the Centre for Deaf Studies, and Hi-Hopes; is a core team member as she has set up the only home-based early intervention programme for children with hearing loss in South Africa. The Neonatology Division, lead by Dr Natasha Rhoda, at Mowbray Maternity Hospital have been integral to this projects' success.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to see the University of Cape Town (UCT) roll out this programme to train more screening technicians across South Africa. By scaling up newborn hearing screening and empowering trained professionals in multiple provinces, we are paving the way for accessible, efficient hearing care for all.
#HOPE-4-Smiles
Dr Martin Douglas-Jones, a maxillo-facial surgeon, and Dr Jessica McGuire have set up a multidisciplinary clinic at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. The project was initiated through collaboration with Prof. Shazia Peer.
The clinic was set up to identify children with mandibular hypoplasia (small lower jaw) for a variety of reasons. This impacts on their ability to breathe, feed, speak, and maintain oral hygiene. Due to the nature of the intervention, these children do not have access to life-altering intervention.
The HOPE-4-Smiles project aims to address this issue by offering surgical intervention.
#HOPE-Learn
We are comitted to producing free reading material for children in the 6 month to 6 year old age group.
The Million Word Gap Project was initiated on 27 April 2024 and will run for 2 years.
Our goal is to upload 24 books, in multiple languages to encourage shared book reading.
Shared book reading during the first three years of life plays a pivotal role in early childhood development. Engaging with books not only fosters a strong parent-child bond but also significantly enhances language skills, cognitive development, and emotional understanding.
This interactive experience introduces children to new concepts, enriches their vocabulary, and encourages a love for learning. By making shared reading a regular part of daily routines, caregivers can lay a solid foundation for future academic success and lifelong learning.